Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on Article 6 (Right to Life)

West Coast LEAF provided a written submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee to inform the Committee’s preparation of a General Comment on Article 6 (Right to Life) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). We made this submission in order to ensure that the right to life under the ICCPR reflects the reality of women’s lives and provides them with meaningful protection.

We made the following key points:

• The scope and nature of Article 6 must be interpreted in a manner that reflects the indivisibility and interdependence of human rights.
• State inaction that results in either a public or private threat to the right to life must be included in the interpretation of “deprivation of life.”
• “Inherent right to life” must be interpreted to start at birth.

Read our full submission. (PDF, 348 KB)